Selective stencil printing apparatus and stencil for use in same



Sept. 1, 1936. H. P. ELLIOTT SELECTIVE STENCIL PRINTING APPARATUS AND STENCIL FOR USE IN SAME Original Filed Dec. 29, 1933 3 Sheets-Sheet l ATTORNEY Sept. 1, 1936. H. P. ELLIOTT 2,053,071

SELECTIVE STENCIL PRINTING APPARATUS AND STENCIL FOR USE IN SAME Original Filed Dec. 29,1933 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 v INVENTOR'I48 Aka/1mm P. ///'o//. V v

'ATTO R N EY Sept. 1, 1936. H. P. ELLIOTT SELECTIVE STENCIL PRINTING APPARATUS IND STENCIL FOR USE IN SAME Original Filed Dec. 29, 1955 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR HePMoA/ P. f///b/fi ATTORQJEY Patented Sept. 1, 1936 oN rE-2sTATs--s SELECTIVE STENCIL PRINTING APPARA s 7 AND STENCIL F OR USE IN SANlE Harmon-P. Elliott, Watertown, Mass, assignor to a The Elliott Addressing Machine Company, a corporation of Massachusetts,

Application r 16 Claims.

This invention comprises certain improvements on apparatus of the type shown in Patent No. 1,180,385 granted. to sterling" Elliott, April 23, 1916, andas furthe'r modified and improved in my Patent N-o". -1,883,643, granted October 18, 1932, the'features oi -construction to which the present invention relates being particularly illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 of the latter patent. Insaid Patent-No. -1,180,385 the selective mechanism for automatically causing the apparatus to print withfior skip each particular-stencil, was designed "to bemechanically actuated by said stencils which haveholes'punched in them: for cooperation with afingerfor a plurality of fingers controlling the printingdevices. In my patent above mentioned similar selective-mechanism was shown asbeing electricallyactuated by a separate disc of paper'having holes punched in it, According "to my present invention'the selective apparatus is also electrically actuated, but this is accomplished by means of simple'clips of metal or other electrically conducting material 'mounted'on' the standard forms of" card stencil 'now in general use. Consequently this invention is"'easily applicableto any or 'all of themillionsof card stencils now in dailyuse, andthe clipsmay be made 'U -shaped and snapped on to the stencils. v

Preferablysuch' clips are adjustable on each stencil so thatthey may be moved by the operatorinto a position on each stencil such that it may momentarily close an electric circuit just before such stencil is-advanced for use in a printing cycle, or it may be left in a position such that the selector actuating circuit will then be-leftopen. Thus the operator can determine, in advance ofthe printing operation, as to which of theseriesbf stencils in a stack'th'ereof to be placed in the stencil magazine of the apparatus shall be used for printing and which shall be skippedywhen the whole series are run through the machine, and then adjust the 'U-clips accordingly; When, however, this same mailing 'list is to be used again by running the same stack'bf stencilsthrou'ghthe machine as before, any desired changes in the printing and/or'skip ping operation maybeefiected by oorrespondingly-rearrangingthe' clips on stencils for which such changes are required. s

Furthermore, inasmuch asthe control device which is actuated by such selective means is reversibleg ashereinafter shown, it is possible by 'a simple -change in the position of a latch forming part" thereof .to cause skipping. either f'of 'the stencils I, whichficlosethe'; selector actuating December 29, 1933, Serial No'.: 704;44o TY Renewed Julyl6, 1936 circuit, or of those which leave said circuit open; and as a resultxof the conjoint use of these two features;.-5:(thet:. sliding clips and the reversing latch) .a double flexibility of selection is obtained,

with :consequent advantages to be hereinafter explained.

The bestfform of apparatus at-present known to me embodying my invention is illustrated in the accompanying-"threesheets of drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a cardstencil blank equipped: with an'radjustable' metal clip .constitutingone element of my invention.

Fig.5;2 .is 719.- detail cross. section on line. 2-2

ofsFigml; and Fig.- Za isa similar'view 'of' a modification." Fig.3 is ::a vertical .section on line 3-3 of Figalshowing'certain partsfiofthe machine portion of a stencil addressing apparatus embodying otherfeatures of my inventiomparts being shown in section, andothers omitted Fig; 4 is :a perspective view-of the .sameyparts being broken away and others omitted.

Fig.5 is an. enlarged detail cross section taken on line 5-5"ofrFig. 4 showing the reciprocating finger of the selective mechanism; a

- Figs. 6 and? are :detail sideelevations of the reversible-latch forming part. of. the mechanism for controllingutheprinting operation.

Fig 8 is an enlarged. detail section of the stencil magazineandjstencil: pusherytaken on line 8-8 .of Fig. 4,.1ookingirom the other. side of the machine, and Y v Fig. -9 is .a detail side. elevation of the reversible latch. and cooperating mechanism. i

Fig. '10 is airagmentary plan. viewon an: enlarged scaleshowing part of a stenciLwith .clip and'guidetherefor; and:

Fig 11 is'a section on line H-.ll of 'Fig. 10,

Throughout thedrawings like reference'charactersindicate'likeparts.

-As. also: shown in my: Patent No. 1,883,643, the mach'ine: portion of :the apparatus'comprises a .reciprocatingrink impression mechanism poo-:- operating successively with a series .of card stencils fed. to it along parallelgoppositely grooved guides, 30, by a constantly driven reciprocating stencil pusher 3 L .In the trainof mechanism normally reciprocating the-ink carrying member 42' obsaid .impressionmechanism isra latch 86 (Figs-.3, .4 and 9);which,-whenztripped,disables saidreciprocating member with .the'result that a stencil is then passed through theprinting vzone withoutany. printing being done fromitpxAn electromagnetic controlling device for::this latch when printed and for filing and indexing pur poses, and in this notch, according to my present invention, I mount a U-shaped metal clip 4, the width of which is a little more than half the length of slot 3 so that it can be slid from one end of the slot to the other, the free ends of the clip being bent toward one-another as shown in Fig. 2, so as to overhang the inner edges of frame I and hold the clip thereon. The pint,

strikes the stencil frame at about the point marked I8 in Fig. 1, if the clip is then in the, position there shown and the electric circuit 'is" then not completed. Consequently the magnet IIO (Fig. 4) is then not energized. If, however, the clip is slid over point I8 the circuit throughbattery I6 (Fig. 3) wire I! and the machine frame 5 to which it is connected, thence to one of the stencil guides 30, contact 3| clip 4, finger 8, selector bracket 5, and wire I 3'fastened to the bracket by screw I4 is then completed through magnet III], and the selective control device is operated accordingly, as will be hereinafter described in detail.

The electrical contact 3| should preferably have an inclined upper face, as shown in Fig. 11, so tilted that the clip 4 may ride up on it without catching, when the stencil and clip are moving in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 11. The notch 3 is deep enough to cause clip 4 to clear the stencil guide 30 and touch only contact 3|, as shown in Fig. 10.

Clip 4 must have a length slightly greater than one-half the length-of slot 3, so that the clips on adjacent stencils in the stack in a magazine will always overlap one'another to-a certain extent, as otherwise one clip might catch on another when the stencils are being pulled out of the bottom of the magazine.

All the clips on all the stencils in any stack are located on one side of such stack so that it will tend to lean in the other direction as a result of the greater thickness of the clips, and so press against the other side wall of the magazine. To avoid this, I may apply a strip of paper or other cheap material 54 to one face of the other side of the stencil frame I, as shown at 54, in Fig. 1. If this paper strip has a thickness about equal to double the thickness of the metal out of which clip 4 is made, it will compensate for the thickness of the two legs of each clip and even up the stack so that it will stand straight up. Also this particular trouble may be avoided altogether by making the portion I I I of frame I, which borders notch 3, sufficiently thinner than the rest of said frame 'to countersink'the clip legs, as indicated in Fig. 2a. 'The strip 54may then, of course, be omitted.

' While I have shown clip 4 sliding longitudinally back and forth on the stencil frame, any other mounting for such a clip, which would permit it to be moved into or'out ofregistration with the finger 8, could be substituted for that here shown.

As best shown in Fig. 5, finger 8 is slidingly mounted in the finger holding frame I carried by slide 6 reciprocating vertically in bracket 5, which is insulated at I9 from the table on which it is mounted and the remaining portions of the maback of the machine. "once in every cycle of printing operations with chine. A light spring 9 normally holds finger 8 with its shoulder 8a down against frame I. A rack I0 on the back of slide 6 meshes with teeth on sector II pinned to shaft I2, and said slide is guided on the face of bracket 5, by retaining plate I5. Shaft I2 is oscillated by crank arm I63 (Fig. 4) connected by link I62 to crank arm I64 fast on shaft I04 journaled in housing I05 at the The shaft I04 is oscillated the result. that the magnet III! is energized if finger S'strikes a clip 4, as above described, or remains dead if said finger merely strikes the nonconducting frame I of stencil 2.

Other portions of the apparatus also shown in my Patent No. 1,883,643, above mentioned, may be described as follows: Below table 20 is located 7 the power mechanism 22 which is of a type well known in the art unnecessary to describe further that serves to reciprocate the operating rod 24. The pair of spaced stencil tracks 30 are disposed above the table and extend lengthwise thereof and are adapted to guide successive stencils into and out of printing position. The collection of stencils A is contained in a stencil holder 32 which is located mainly above and at the right hand end of the stencil track .and in linetherewith (Fig. 4). A stencil pusher 34 of a well known type not necessary to describe and illustrate in greater detail is disposed below the pile of stencils in the holder 32 and is arranged to be reciprocated under said pile to move the lowermost stencils successively out of the pile and into and along the stencil track 30.

A' printing platen 36 is located beneath the stencil track and is supported by arms 38, see Fig. 3, which are pivoted to depending brackets 40 under the stencil table. A printing roll 42 is located above the stencil track and the platen and is journaled between rearwardly extended arms 44 which are connected to a horizontal yoke 46 pivoted on a horizontal shaft 48 carried by said bracket 40. Inking mechanism 50 of a well known type is located above the printing roll 42 and is adapted to supply ink thereto.

The inking roll and platen are adapted to be moved toward. each other to press a stencil a against a sheet of paper, postcard or envelope placed beneath said stencil. To this end an arm 60 is pivotedv on a shaft 62 carried by the depending brackets 40. Said arm 60 has an upstanding integral arm 64 which terminates in an upper cam face 66 that underlies a roller 68 carried by the platen arms 38 and is so arranged that when said arm 64 is rotated in a counterclockwise direction, it raises the platen and holds it in an elevated position until the arm is restored to an inoperative position, as shown in Fig. 3.

The yoke 46 is integral with a depending arm 10 that is connected to the arm 60 through links 12, whereby both the platen and the printing roll are operated conjointly. The stencil pusher is operated conjointly with the platen and printing roll and all are operated by a vibrating arm 14,.see Figs. 3, 4 and 9.

Said arm 14 is journalled on the shaft 62 and is pivotally connected with the upper end of the reciprocating actuating rod 24 so that said arm is reciprocated by said rod. The stencil pusher is operated by means of a link 16, Fig. 8, which is pivotally connected at one end with the stencil pusher 34 and at the other end with a forwardly extended arm I8 of a vertically pivoted hub 80. Said hub has'a laterally extended arm'WBQ at its lower end which is loosely received in a cam'sl'ot; 84 of said arm 14" and carr ies 'an anti-friction roller 83' running: in*s'ai'd slot;- The arrangement is such that as said: arm ."I41 is re"- ciprocated vertical1y,the hub'I8 is caused to be reciprocated about its vertical axis so as to reciprocate the stencilpusher'.

Said arm T I has a locking and releasing con- Iiection with. the printing roll and platen so I that it can-operate the printing rolland platen when .a selected stencil passes into printing position isadapted to enter a notch'flfl inthe outer face of said arm I4 under action of the tension spring 62 whereby to locksaid arms Iiil'andfl i' for conjoint reciprocatory movement. When" the latch T6,.however, is held out of'engagement with said arm 14; as illustrated, the arm 14can recipro cate, without operating the arm 66; which remains motionless, with'its stop lug 6| resting against strut 63, as shown in Fig. 3;

, Selector mechanismis provided to control the latch member 85 andits connection with the arm I4. The selector control includes a vertically disposed" latch-release arm 94 which is journalled in a depending bracket 96 carried by the rear edge of the table: 26. Said armi94 has a depending extension 98 that is disposed in front of a roller I60 carried by an upper end of the latch member 86 and is adapted to engage said roller on movement in a counterclockwise direction, looking at Figs. 3 or 4, and effect disengagement of said latch member 8 .3 from said arm '54. The release arm' 94 is disposed in position to maintainsaid latch member S6 disengaged from the arm I4 when locked releasably in such position by a latch H32 which is loosely carried on a shaft I04.

The shaft I94 is reciprocated by means of a depending arm I65, see Fig. 9, the lower end of which is provided with a cam roller 4513' which is located beside the outer end of the arm 14 and in operative relation with the cam face HG of a cam block H2 fixed to one side of said arm T4. The shape of said cam face H0 is such that when r the arm i4 moves upwardly and is traversing the latter part of its range of movement, the arm N56 is permitted to move in a clockwise direction and thereby permit the spring I58 to oscillate shaftiii i and through linkage I64, I62, I63 raise the finger 8. During the downward movement of said arm M the reverse action takes place. If the stencil a then undersaidfinger has its clip 4 in a position to be struck by 'said finger, the electro-magnet is energized and (if the reversible latchv I02 then has its notched face onv the under side, as shown in Fig. 7) the arm v94 is released to permit the connection betwee'n'the latch member 86 and the arm "I4, to take place or to continue if it has been established during the preceding cycle. On the next upward stroke of the arm M, the release arm 94 is adapted to be again restored to its normal position. To this end, the arm 94 is provided with'a cam roller I14 which is adapted to beenga'ged by the inclined camface I76 of a'cam plate-H8 carried by the arm 14. It is apparent that as said arm I4 is moved upwardly the cam-face I16 will-en'- screw I193 in a housing latch housing I0 I,

so as tomove its cam arm gages lower detent I 06 only,

ingfth'an' are skipped, so

rangem'erit should be adopted by gage" the" roll I 14 and move the arm"94*-iii a counterclockwise direction"(looking'at'Fig. 3) to restoreit into holding engagement with the latch I02; The latch is'reversible, being held by thumbmounted on shaft: I845 Theupper end of arm -94 is provided with-a lower detent projection I06 and an upper one I01, which respectively cooperate with the lat'ch IEl2 according to whether its hook-shaped" face" is turned downward; as shownin Fig. '7, or upward" as shown in Fig; 6. The "armature for magnet llflis'mounted on one e'nd of a trip lever II2 pivotedat III' to'bracket 96?; The free end of this lev'er extends under all'as'shownin Fig. 4. As themagnet is energizedwhen a stencikhaving its clip 4hr position to cooperate with'finger 8 comes opposite the selector bracket, "latch: I02 will then be'lifted. If theretofore' it has been turned'up so as" to thenengage detent Mil, the cam arm 98 of the swinging member 94'--98 will be held out in p'o'sitionto triplatch 86, and no printing will be done as that stencil passes through the printing zone, becauseprinting roll izi will' not move. If the neXt stencil hasits clip 4 out of position" to'closethe circuit, latch H82 will-stay in its lower position, the member 94-38 will be free to swing under'the pull oi'spring H38 v 98 out of the path of latch roller Iiiii, said latch will not'be tripped out of engagement with-constantly reciprocating member I4, and a printing operation will bep'erformed' with that stencil. If, thereafter, the posit on'oi latch IGZ is reversedso that it en'- the" above described procedure will be reversed.

One advantage of this arrangement is that the selective operation ona whole series of stencilscan be reversed at once, instead 'of' it being necessary to go through the entire set and shift the position of every clip l', as would otherwise be necessary!" Moreover' the combination of the twoselective'controls (reversible latch and ad it possible to follow" generally aiuniformsy'stemior clip adjustment and yet 'reversthat fora given set-"0f stencils when necessary, without 'readjusting all the clips. Thus usuall'y mor'e stencils ina set are used for printthat a standard arwhich the closingot the magnet circuit will cause a skipping the stencils which are to be skipped because then the'electricportionof the apparatus "will be used less; and possibilities of sparking reduced. This would require that clips on stencils to' be" skipped shall be adjusteda'sshown in dotted lines in Fig. l, so as'to cover the point #8 on each stencil frame. All the stencils to beusedfor' printing would then. have their associated clips adjusted as shown full'lines in Fig. 1. I To carry out such system the latch I02 would beturned up, as shown in Fig. 6. If; h'o'We'verJit was desired at any time to use all those ste'ncil'susually skipped, and skip those use'd 'at other timesfa simple reversal of the latch IB! would-accomplish that temporarily without disturbing the regular arrangement of the clips according to the system above" assumed to have been adopted. The only other way to secursuch result would be to"overhaul thden'tireset of stencils and shift each clip. This would be a laborious jo'b 'and'a' similar one would-have to be done when'that set was to be used again in the regularway. Moreover, the uniform system of clip' arrangement above suggested would "be disarranges.

which is loosely 1 The advantage of the clip system over the one using holes in the stencil framepreviously employed is that a clip can be easily snapped on to a standard card stencil, while the punching operation required elaborate punch mechanism and care in using it. Also the punched hole was unchangeable while the clip can be slipped into another position whenever the mode of use of the stencil carrying it is to be changed. 7

The advantage of mounting the clip in the notch 3 is that it does not then interfere with the stacking or feeding of the stencils. The electrical circuit closing action performed by the clip could be accomplished by other forms of circuit closing element so long as it was adjustable on the stencil into a position that would'disable its circuit closing function. I believe thatI am the first to thus adjustablymount on a stencil an element having a selective function causing printing or-skipping of the stencil according to its adjusted position.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. A stencil card having a shallow notch along a section of one edge, combined with a U-shaped clip of electrically conducting material mounted on and movable along said notched edge section.

2. A combination such as defined in claim 1 in which said stencil comprises a thin panel of stencilizable fabric and a surrounding rectangular frame of much thicker and stiffer material, and in which said clip has its free ends bent toward one another over the inner edge of said frame.

3. A card stencil having a border frame of electrically non-conducting material combined with a clip of electrically conducting material ar ranged to grasp and move along one edge of said frame, overlaying at least one surface thereof; whereby said frame may be rendered eleotrica-L ly conductive over selected-limited areas so overlaid. l r

4. In a stencil printing apparatus comprising an ink impression mechanism, a card'stencil, a grooved guide along which said stencil may be slid into the printing field of said mechanism, and means for either actuating or disablingv said mechanism adapted to be selectivelycontrolled by dissimilar features presented by successive stencils, the combination of a clip adjustable along the edge of such card stencil moving in said guide groove, a member reciprocable toward and from said stencil to make or break contact with said clip if it has been adjusted in a predetermined position on said stencil, and an electrically operated device controlling said means for actuating or disabling said impression mechanism, one terminal of the circuit of which device is connected to said reciprocable member and the other to said guide, both of which are formed of electrically conducting material, but the stencil being formed of non-conducting material, said reciprocable member being insulated from said guide.

- 5. A combination such as defined in clain'r4 in which said card stencil has a shallow notch in one edge of a length less than double the length of said clip, and in which said clip is located in said notch.

6. A combination such asdefined in claim 4 in which said card stencil has in one edge a notch in which said clip is located, said notch being deep enough to remove said clip from contact with the body of said grooved guide, but said guide being provided with a projecting electrical contact member located in the path of said clip.

'7. In a stencil printing-apparatus. comprising an ink impression device, means for pushing a stencil into operative relation with said impression device and power mechanism for transmitting motion to both said stencil pushing means and said impression device, but which can be automatically disconnected from the latter, the combination, of controlling means for said power mechanism capable of being actuated by said stencil, comprising a member which may be adjusted to either cause such stencil to be used in a printing operation, or to be skipped, with a device adjustable on such stencil for cooperating with said means.

8. A combination such as defined in claim 7 in which said power mechanism controlling means comprise an oscillating member elastically urged to swing in one direction, and a latch actuated by said stencil adapted to engage said member and prevent it so swinging, or to leave it free to so swing, which said latch is reversible; whereby when said latch is in one position on its'supporting member it will be moved out of engagement with said oscillating member when actuated by said stencil and so cause the same to be printed; but, when reversed, it willbe moved into engaging position when thus actuated and so cause said stencil to be skipped.

9. In an apparatus of the class described comprising a stencil pusher and a constantly reciprocating member for actuating said pusher, a printing mechanism, a latch for temporarily connecting said mechanism with said reciprocating member, a pivoted cam member operative to trip said latch when held in one position, a spring tending to move said cam member into another and inoperative position, and means for swinging said cam member into its first mentioned position once during each cycle of movement of said reciprocating member, the combination, with a second and manually reversible latch provided on one face only with means for engaging said cam member and thereby hold it in said operative position, which second latch is movable on a fixed pivot the axis of which is substantially parallel to said face, of mechanism for automatically moving said last mentioned latch temporarily in the direction toward which said engaging means face once during each cycle of'movement of said reciprocating member and while said cam member is in the field of engagement with said last mentioned latch, which said mechanism is adapted to be temporarily disabled once during each such cycle and while said cam member is in the field of its engagement with said last mentioned latch.

10. A combination such as defined in claim 9 comprising a guide along which card stencils may be pushed to said printing mechanism, and a card stencil equipped with means for selectively controlling said means for lifting said last mentioned latch.

.11. A combination such as defined in claim 9 comprisinga guide along which card stencils may be pushed to said printing mechanism, and a card stencil equipped with means for selectively controlling 'said mechanism for moving said last mentioned latch comprising a clip adjustably mounted on said stencil.

12. In a stencil printing apparatus of the type described includinga stencil card, an ink impression mechanism and a device for disabling the same, together with other mechanism for moving said stencil through said impression mechanism and adjustable means associated With'said stencil enabling it, when said means is adjusted in one particular manner, to actuate said disabling device while such stencil is passing through the printing zone.

13. A combination such as defined in claim 12 in which said disabling device comprises an element which, when properly adjusted, prevents said device from operating while the stencil associated with said so adjusted means is passing through the printing zone. 7

14. A combination such as defined in claim 12 in which said disabling device comprises an element which, when properly adjusted, prevents said device from operating while the stencil associated with said so adjusted means is passing through the printing zone but causes it to operate when a stencil associated with differently adjusted means is passing through said zone.

15. A stencil card such as defined in claim 1 having a strip of material adhering to a portion of its frame opposite said notch, which strip has a thickness substantially equal to the sum of the thicknesses of the two leg portions of the U- shaped clip.

16. A stencil card such as defined in claim 1 which has a frame of substantially uniform thick ness except along the section on which said clip is mounted, said section being sufficiently reduced in thickness to countersink said clip.

HARMON P. ELLIOTT. 

